1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a surgical instrument for minimally-invasive surgery, comprising a handle, a shaft and an actuating part at the end of the shaft farthest away from the handle. The invention also relates to a trocar or cannula that is provided with an isolator to be placed on a patient to safeguard a sterile environment
2. Description of Related Art
The literature relating to the provision of a sterile surgical environment by using isolator means is extensive.
In the British Medical Journal 1, 1974, pp 322-324 J. McLauchlan et al. describe in an article “The Surgical Isolator”, the use of a plastic cover placed under pressure and enveloping the patient. Surgery takes place through access openings provided in the cover.
A similar isolator is also known from Stephen N. Joffe et al., XA Closed System Surgical Isolator for Major Elective Abdominal Operations’, World Journal of Surgery, Vol. 2, Nr. 1, January 1978, pp. 123-130.
The patent literature is similarly extensive; the isolators known from the various patent publications generally relate to use in conventional surgery. The publications include the European patent application EP-A-537768, the American patent publications numbers U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,403,400, 2,473,033, 1,118,657, 4,026,286, 5,083,558, 5,316,541, 5,728,041, 6,321,764, 1,488,772 and the published American patent applications 2004/0074212, 2004/024014, 2004/0116770 and 2007/0112336.
For some time now the aim has been to reduce the number of major surgical operations by performing minimally invasive surgery instead. So far, the same standards of working conditions regarding the preservation of a sterile working environment apply as for conventional surgery.